COUNCILLOR WARD 5 NEWS

E carolyn.parrish@mississauga.ca T 905-896-5500 W carolynparrish.ca @carolynhparrish

Carolyn ParrishWard 5 News • Fall / Winter 2017

Dear Neighbours,

Britannia is about to enter an exciting fall, full of activities and significant accomplishments.• Odysseo brought some excitement to the City, with audiences reaching almost 72,000 seats, 14,000 of which were donated tickets to a variety of local charitable groups. An events pad remains at Hershey in place for future events, next to the 403. • The Light Rail Transit corridor is proceeding to the tendering stage and development is following its path up Hurontario with additional high rise condos, town houses and on-street commercial.• Perhaps the most interesting development is the Britannia Farm owned by the Peel District School Board as it moves toward the creation of a 168 acre outdoor education centre on the Britannia Farm. • The opening of Danville Park, officially the highest hill in Mississauga, will take place Friday September 29th at 6:30 pm. It features a variety of amenities like cricket pitches but its most amazing feature is both a panoramic view of the City and an aviation-themed space where enthusiasts can watch planes take off and land. • Policies are being put in place to create more mixed housing types right in the heart of the City. • Sunday October 1st, the first Fall Fair in more than 20 years will take place on the farm at the Old Britannia School site.

FALL FAIR RETURNS TO WARD 5!

After a twenty year break, the Ward 5 office has convinced the Peel District School Board that a Fall Fair would be a wonderful way to welcome the community to the beautiful grounds on the farm. Art boards showing an award winning Master Plan for the farm’s development will be on display in the Old Britannia School House.

Pinnacle International, a close neighbour on Hurontario, has generously sponsored a ferris wheel. A hay wagon, pulled by two magnificent horses will provide rides. There will be free popcorn, $1 burgers, a Farmers’ Market with veggies, pumpkins and baked goods for sale. Tim Hortons will provide hot drinks.

PUT SUNDAY OCTOBER 1st 12:00 noon to 4:00pm in your calendars!

A ten acre grassy field between Hershey Centre and the 403 was converted to an incredible Events Pad with some investment from the City and resources provided by Cavalia’s Odysseo. The largest touring show in the world has left Mississauga after thrilling more than 72,000 patrons under the tallest Big Top in the world. Off to Nashville and one more stop, Odysseo will complete a ten year run while a whole new show is in design.

All city facilities have by-laws tailored specifically to each site. The Hershey Events Pad will be no different. Staff are in the process of drafting suggested rules governing what can be accommodated at this location. We will then hold a public meeting to invite comments from those living closest to the Centre who will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed By-laws.

HURONTARIO LRT MOVING FORWARDThe province has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to three short listed consortiums to design, build, operate and maintain the $1.4 billion project for 30 years. The 20 kilometer LRT will improve connections to local transit and GO services from Port Credit to the Gateway Terminal in the south of Brampton - 22 stops with five in Ward 5. The successful proponent will be chosen in 2018 when construction will begin. It is expected to be fully operational by 2022.

HERSHEY EVENTS PAD

NO HST HIKE!Premier Wynne said “NO” to a formal request from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) for an increase of 1% to the current 13% HST to dedicate it to municipal infrastructure. 1% would generate $2.5 billion to repair and upgrade roads, sewers and bridges all over the province.

Apparently the provincial municipalities are in need of $4.9 billion to keep up with repairs and that amount will continue to grow.

Municiplities acquire the vast majority of their operating and infrastructure funds from property taxes. Many across Ontario have kept taxes artificially low, especially in election

years, not putting money aside as Mississauga has done for the past few years, to build up an infrastructure fund.

The Minister of Finance, Charles Sousa MPP Mississauga South, has correctly pointed out the $4 billion in provincial grants provided to municipalities in the past year. But those grants are “gifts” and gifts can’t be depended upon year over year. Nor can they be planned for in future budgets since they can be cut off at any time.

A more reasonable request from AMO would have been to leave the HST at the current 13% but assign 1% of that tax (on a per capita basis) to Ontario’s municipalities -

a fair, dependable, guaranteed return of our taxpayers’ money to cities and towns that local councils can plan for year over year. Then, when more money is required, municipalities should be empowered to tax a variety of services, like a hotel tax, chosen by each jurisdiction in consultation with their residents.

Asking a senior level of government to increase a major tax, especially in election years, is pure folly and doomed from the start. It may be time for Mississauga to leave AMO which is dominated by small municipalities, join Toronto and pursue the possible rather than the impractical.

For the past year, the 200 acre Britannia Farm Master Plan has made amazing progress. A team including Peel District School Board (PDSB) staff and Trustees, as well as City staff with Councillors Carlson and Parrish, have been given an Award for Planning Excellence by the Canadian Institute of Planners.

After extensive public consultation over the past twelve months, this updated Master Plan has been formally approved by the PDSB Board of Trustees and City Council. It lays out six distinct zones: A a cluster of heritage buildings to be relocated near the Board office; B a riparian zone around Cooksville creek and wetlands; C an ecological zone with its mature sugar bush; D a field centre with geothermal heat and light; E an agricultural zone and 32 the residential/commercial zone.

The residential/commercial development will fund

this Urban oasis with 32 acres of creative, mixed use construction on the corner of Hurontario and Bristol. With land in the area currently valued in the $3 million per acre range, this modern, attractive complex will not only pay for the construction of the whole Outdoor Education Centre, it will pay for its operation and maintenance for generations.

STEP TWO has been taken. The board has formally applied to the City for an Official Plan Amendment which will alter the 32 acres at Hurontario and Bristol from an educational/agricultural designation to mixed use residential/commercial zoning. Several top flight developers have expressed great interest in developing a unique and mixed use plan for the property

My job is to make sure this becomes the most exciting and attractive project in the City.

MAJOR STEPS FORWARD on BRITANNIA FARM

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Rain or shine, join us for the Ward 5 Fall Fair at the Britannia Farm. Horse-drawn wagon rides, free rides on the Pinnacle International ferris wheel, display of art boards for details of each zone of the Master Plan on display in the School House, free parking in PDSB lots, farmers’ market produce and bakery goods for sale, Tim Hortons Coffee Trailer, $1 burgers. Opens at 11:00 am and closes around 4:00pm. All Britannia residents encouraged to come out to the first Fall Fair in over 20 years!

PINNACLE FALL FAIR: October 1st.

For more than two years, the Mayor, Councillors from Ward 5 and 11, and a wide array of experts from government and the housing industry have met regularly to tackle the problem of affordable housing in our City. Planning staff have proposed a range of possible methods to address an increasingly urgent problem.

House prices have spiraled, rental apartment vacancies have dropped from 0.5% to 0.1%, private condo rentals have increased a record 11% in the last twelve months. Affordability for a roof over our heads is set at 30% of the family income - an almost impossible target to hit for young professionals, those on fixed pensions and even those with decent middle-level incomes.

The Daniels Corporation, with a long history of innovative housing solutions, came up with a proposal for their property at 360 City Centre Drive that puts into reality some of the solutions the expert panel suggested: Region of Peel ownership

and control of rental units and Development Charge (DC) forgiveness.

Daniels will build two towers on a single shared, four storey podium in City Centre near an LRT station. One tower will have individually owned market-value condos while the Region of Peel buys and controls the entire second tower. There will be 70 units for those waiting on the rent-geared-to-income long list and 104 for middle-income ($55-100,000 household income) units.

Helping to make the Peel purchase possible, the Region waived over $5 million in DCs and the City provided a grant of $2.7 million to offset its portion of the DCs, from surplus reserve funds. This is the first significant manifestation of two long years of study into a practical solution to our housing problem - and it’s right in the City Centre.

DANVILLE PARK OPENING: 6:30pm September 29, 2017

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MIXED HOUSING IN CITY CENTRE

Dear Neighbours,As Councillor for Ward 5 it has been my pleasure to work more closely with one of Mississauga’s most significant community partners, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

They have assisted with projects in Malton, but nothing as significant as the Danville Park viewing platform just north of the Hershey Centre.

Danville Park has been created by the City’s Parks and Recreation Team as a destination for local residents of all ages, as well as tourists, for year round activities: cricket pitches, pedestrian and cycling pathways, toboggan runs and an awesome panoramic view of our City.

Final Approach Danville Terminal soars 24 meters above the surrounding area, the highest man-made land form in the City. The aviation-themed lookout point is particularly special to me in that it brings back childhood memories of hours spent with my dad, sitting high on the roof of his car parked on roads around the airport, watching planes fly in and out of Malton.

The viewing platform pays tribute to Mississauga’s almost 60 year aviation history. I would like to personally thank the GTAA for its generous $300,000 contribution, as well as their donation of historical limestone, to partner in the creation an iconic aviation-themed space to be enjoyed for many years to come.